• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 5, 2015

Can you believe it? Is it real? Will it blend? OK, no, We're not talking about that YouTube oddity. No. We're talking about a new study commissioned by Snapchat and conducted by Millward Brown Digital which found many of Snapchat users reported they liked  Our Stories and Brand Stories, the platform's version of ads.

The study found 60% or users enjoy Our Stories which allows anyone, including brands, to post a collection of photos taken at events and, for brands, to sponsor the collection with a "brought to you by" tag. It was also found that 44% of users enjoy the platform's Brand Stories which incorporates video ads or photo ads.

Now we all know how much a study is worth when it's funded by an entity that's the focus of the study but directionally, these findings are encouraging for brands using Snapchat. One such brand, NBC Universal Films which, in November, promoted the films Dumb and Dumber To and Ouija is said to have resulted in a 13% increase in attendance for those films. That's not too shabby for slapping up a few low cost photos now is it?